Manzō Kagetoki
Manzō Kagetoki (影時 万象, Kagetoki Manzō) is a member of the 3rd Division in the Gotei 13. His captain is Theron Ascania. Appearance Manzō is a tall and well-built man, due in no part to any type of frequent or demanding physical training, with onyx eyes. He has short black hair that is combed down, the longest strands being the long front bangs that hang between his eyes. He wears a sleeveless shihakusho with a long, rope belt (that color of which varies day to day) that is normally tied in an inverted bow, in which he carries his zanpakutō. He also wears Japanese wooden sandals, leaving the intricate tattoo atop his right foot exposed. He has an imposing figure which he complements with a consistently stern and seemingly apathetic facial expression. Personality Manzō has a calm and quiet persona, usually not speaking unless spoken to. When he does speak, he does so in a collected, straight to the point and matter-of-fact fashion. This gives him an aura of anonymity that exists even outside of combat, often a source of consternation for those that don’t know him. Though he is able to take the brunt of another’s aggression without any problems, he is easily aggravated by rash and immature behavior. To those he is unfamiliar with, he has shown himself to be cold-hearted at times, though he will go to great lengths to right any injustice. To those he is familiar with, he is typically known as a “nice guy” with an ironic and sarcastic sense of humor. He displayed a great deal of loyalty to Yonezawa, doing his bidding without question, looking out for his general well-being at all times and always having complete faith in his abilities and decisions. This level of respect and reverence extends to all those he considers mature, wise, and experienced. When he cannot accomplish a task or challenge handed down to him, he usually feels extreme shame and remorse afterward. When overwhelmed, Manzō is able to maintain his composed nature, using this to his advantage in battle as it becomes easier for him to stay focused on the situation at hand. He can quickly adjust to any situation to make keen and thought-out decisions. When he moves, he has shown himself to be serious, ruthless, and decisive. His favorite pastime is, by far, eating food, having tried dishes in all eateries in his native 64th district of North Rukongai; he chooses to spend his downtime trying different foods throughout the Rukongai districts surrounding Seireitei. His favorite food is Korean barbecue and without fail drowns almost everything he eats in nauseating amounts of soy sauce. Other than this he has no real hobbies, spending all other downtime lying on rooftops or sleeping. History Arriving in the Soul Society as a mere youth in the 64th district of North Rukongai, Manzō was found and sheltered by a man that he referred to by the only name made available to him: “father”. In a word, the countless number of years of his early childhood can be described as humble, considering the barely-permissible living conditions in the North Alley of Wandering Spirits. Even during this early stage, hunger was an ever-present concern that was unconditionally satiated by his loving overseer, the center of his adolescent universe. However, like all good things, this in due time would come to an end. After his father was murdered in cold blood, he lived alone and homeless, surviving by floating from welcoming hand to hand, all of them eventually meeting an unnatural end as a result of a violent war between the many gangs in the district. From that point and the many decades that followed it, Manzō’s existence was sustained by the generosity of a scant few people and a substantial amount of luck. Along the way, fate brought Manzō and a few others around his age together into a loose-knit family, all of them under the guidance of Yonezawa. The de facto leader and a former member of one of the stronger warring street gangs, Yonezawa taught the rest of them the essentials for survival including hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship. All of them sharing a violent history and the desire to preserve justice, the now-mature youths formed a quasi-police force in the 64th district, defending the innocents of the community from all sides of the warring underworld. The pure intentions that the group was founded on eventually corroded as complacency and arrogance slowly set in. Several members of the group, who developed spiritual energy and an incorrigible appetite in the following years, began hiring themselves out as mercenaries to the warring street gangs while others joined them, leaving less than a fourth of the original members still dedicated to the cause. Manzō remained a steadfast believer in the principles taught to the group by Yonezawa and by that point was seen by the community and his remaining peers as a hero, in much the same way Yonezawa was to him. With the many wars reaching a climax and countless men turning their attention towards the group, Yonezawa advised Manzō to consider leaving the Wandering Spirits district and entering the Shinō Academy in Seireitei. With a heavy heart and his mentor’s persistent wishes, Manzō informed the rest of his comrades that he would leave the next day, unexpectedly receiving complete support from them. However, the next day, reluctance would pull him back before he set foot out of the district. He would return to find the remaining comrades of his group dead, learning that Yonezawa betrayed the group in order to secure his own safety and a high rank in the gang that would eventually stand atop all others. Manzō confronts his former mentor only to lose in ensuing battle. He would nearly lose his life, awaking after being recuperated over several weeks by an unknown figure in the Junrinan district of West Rukongai. With his goal set in mind, Manzō entered the academy to gain the strength needed to one day exact his revenge. Synopsis Coming soon... Powers & Abilities Techniques Coming soon... Division Techniques Coming soon... Feats Manzō has 0''' Feat Slots available: *None Zanpakutō '''Tatsunokuchi (竜の口, Dragon-Headed Gargoyle): In its sealed form, Manzō's zanpakutō is a normal katana with a flat oval crossguard in the form of two bronze Japanese dragons coiled around each other, the heads of which sit on either side of the blade collar with their eyes removed. The hilt and the hanging cord on the black scabbard are both azure. There are two sets of eyes on both sides of the hilt beneath the wrapping. The inner world in which Tatsunokuchi resides is an immensely vast world which consists of a several different concrete statues aligned in endless rows, each construct with a height around 50 feet. The statues are all different, crafted in the formed of grotesque gargoyles and Japanese dragons. The heads are large enough for Manzō to stand easily on and are close enough for him to bound from one to another. An immense statue that would dwarf even the largest modern skyscrapers is located in the center of this inner world and can be seen towering over those around it from nearly everywhere that Manzō appears. Manzō is always placed seemingly miles away from the largest statue at the center; this large statue acts of the manifestation of Tatsunokuchi. The large half-gargoyle, half-dragon statue speaks in a resounding voice that echoes off of the unperceivable walls of this inner world. He has not had any direct interaction with Tatsunokuchi other than this. *'Shikai': Tatsunokuchi is triggered by the command "Time to eat" (食べるべき時間, tabe rubeki jikan). Tatsunokuchi transforms into a large, double-edged cleaver-like sword that is nearly twice the height of Manzō himself; the blade is two meters long, making it longer than its wielder, while the handle is a meter long. There are two fangs at the top of the blade that curve inwards towards each other, one twice as long as the other. The crossguard is thick and sectioned with a symbol similar to the Yata-no-Kagami mirror etched several times around the middle. The handle is connected to a beveled piece beneath the crossguard and is wrapped in bandages with a small dragon-head statue as the pommel. :Shikai Special Ability: The striking features of Tatsunokuchi’s shikai are the large fanged mouth aligned vertically along the blade surface and the tongue that protrudes from it; these features do not appear once the shikai is released, instead coming forth when the appropriate ability is used or at Manzō’s will. The mouth sits vertically on the flat side of the blade and is lined with fangs that can bite down on what comes within its reach. The tongue is thick and dotted with pore-like taste buds which secret a foul stench that all except Manzō can bare. It is rounded at the end like a human’s rather than split like a dragon’s and can withstand and deal a great deal of damage. The natural constitution of it is sticky with the saliva of the mouth compounding this. The sword is as heavy as it is large though Manzō can wield it with great proficiency. :*'Mizuma' (水魔, Disastrous Flood): Viscous saliva with a profound stench that all but the user can bare can be released from the blade’s mouth, either spit out or secreted from the mouth’s tongue; both forms of release have a maximum range of 20 meters and costs Manzō 10% of his maximum reiatsu. Within the saliva are a countless number of microscopic parasites that seep instantly into the skin of the opponent upon contact and begin to feed on their insides. With each round that they continuously feed, they grow hundreds of times in size with the amount of flesh they consume increasing in proportion to their size; the maximum size in which that can grow is relatively the size of a large locust. These parasites not only consume the opponent’s flesh from the inside, but their reiatsu as well, the amount they consume equal to 15% of Manzō’s reiatsu. This amount of reiatsu is consumed after 3 consecutive rounds before they eat their way to the surface and die. They appear as a small undeveloped gargoyle with the head of a dragon. These dead organisms retain the reiatsu taken from the opponent as well as the reiatsu initially imbued in them by Manzō. This reiatsu can be absorbed through Manzō directly ingesting them or by the blade mouth ingesting them and then transferring the reiatsu to Manzō. *'Bankai:' Not Yet Achieved Quotes Coming soon... Trivia Coming soon...